Kannada Actor Dr Vishnuvardhan Died due to heart attack

One of the best and popular actors of Indian state Karnataka film Industry ‘Dr Vishnu Vardhan’ has died of heart attack at 2.30 am at Vikram Hospirtal in Mysore on 30th December 2009. He was of 59 years old. TV9 Kannada News reported that Kannada fans are shocked when they heard about this BIG LOSS and sad on the Kannada star passed away.

Because of unbearable loss, entire Bangalore is closed today. All Schools and Colleges remains closed today as mark of respect for Vishnuvardhan. Now, the dead body of Dr Vishnuvardhan is taken to his residence and people can visit to pay their last respects.

SuperStar Vishnuvardhan died at around 2.30 am, actress Bharathi (Wife of Vishnuvardhan) and son-in-law Anirudh were by his side when he died, according to hospital.

Kannada star was suffering from some health hazards for past five years, recently he had been to Mysore for rest. Due to chest pain, he was admitted to Vikram Hospital Mysore yesterday. He returned to his house in the evening after the treatment. But at 2.30 am today, he suffered same pain again. He took his last breathe while he was being rushed to the hospital.

The deep Condolence over the death Dr. Vishnuvardhan have been expressed by BS Yadiyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka, former CM HD Kumarswamy, Vishnu’s close friends Ambareesh, Dwarkish, Ramya, Puneet Rajkumar, Shivaraj Kumar, Sudeep.

In the Kannada film industry, he was popularly regarded as one of the most versatile, talented, stylish and popular actors. Vishnu has acted in 197 films. At the instance of Puttanna Kanagal who directed his maiden film Nagarahavu, he adopted the name Vishnuvardhan, however his real name is Sampath Kumar.

 An initiative taken as part of Airtel’s Corporate Social Responsibility
 Special and easy number for quick access on status of available blood – 96000 97000
 Service available for customers on all networks and toll free for Airtel mobile customers

Chennai: September 8, 2008 – Airtel, India’s leading mobile service provider today strengthened its tie up with Jeevan Blood Bank of Chennai, taking a step ahead in its “Airtel Cares for Everyone” (ACE) project. This is a first of its kind initiative, wherein people can source information on blood within minutes and access the real time stock of tested blood components from Jeevan Blood Bank 24 hours a day.

Airtel already has a partnership with Jeevan, in which a few numbers have been provided free of cost for Jeevan to stay in touch with people wanting to donate blood and patients in need of blood. This is now being strengthened through an SMS service, which provides information about availability of blood. All that a person needs to do is to type and sms it to 9600097000 (for example, Blood B+ or Blood AB+). A response will be sent back to the person within a minute, containing information on quantity of readily available tested blood components of the group required. This facility is available for customers of all networks and is toll free for Airtel mobile customers.

If the required blood is available, one can call Jeevan Blood Bank directly on 044-28351200 or 044-43524242 for further assistance. This service will help minimise the time spent on searching for safe blood and help save more lives.

Anirban Ghosh, COO Mobile Services – Bharti Airtel Ltd, Tamil Nadu said – “While Airtel has been contributing significantly to India’s telecommunications infrastructure, it is important to reach out to the community in other ways as well. At Airtel, we strongly believe in contributing to the betterment of our society and this initiative reflects our commitment towards this cause. This is the 6th year of our association with Jeevan Blood Bank and we truly hope that the general public will be benefited in its crucial hour of need.”

Dr. P. Srinivasan M.D., Chairman & Managing Trustee, Jeevan Blood Bank and Research Centre said – “Searching for blood in the hour of need can become very time consuming and a frustrating exercise. This service will help people save precious time by getting them quick access to availability of blood and will help the needy at the right time. We would like to thank Airtel for having been associated with us for so long and for extending their support to this noble cause”.

About Bharti Airtel Limited:-

Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, is India’s leading integrated telecom services provider with an aggregate of 75 million customers. Bharti Airtel has been rated among the best performing companies in the world in the BusinessWeek IT 100 list 2007.

Bharti Airtel is structured into three strategic business units - Mobile services, Telemedia services and Enterprise services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles. The Telemedia business provides broadband & telephone services in 94 cities and is foraying into the IPTV and DTH segments. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national & international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. Airtel’s high-speed optic fibre network currently spans over 78,540 kms covering all the major cities in the country. The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine cable systems - i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe. For more information, visit www.bhartiairtel.in

About Jeevan Blood Bank:-

Jeevan Blood Bank and Research Centre was started on 24th September 1995 with the vision of providing, on demand, safe blood and blood components collected from non-remunerated voluntary blood donors using appropriate and current technologies and in accordance to international standards. Over the past thirteen years Jeevan has collected over 72,000 blood donations and made available over 130,000 units of safe blood and blood components to the community. Every blood donation is tested for HIV ( HIV Ag and 1 & 2 Ab), Hepatitis B ( HBsAg & Anti HBc), Hepatitis C ( Anti HCV ), Malaria, Syphilis and Leptospira. Every unit of blood is being tested by Nucleic Acid Testing ( NAT ) for DNA / RNA for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV..

Normality was affected in Hyderabad and nine other districts in Andhra Pradesh on Monday when a bandh called by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi turned violent at many places. All government offices, educational institutions and shops remained closed in the Telangana region.

The Telangana bandh called by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to protest against the arrest of its president, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, turned violent at many places in the region on Monday.

Party supporters damaged vehicles and destroyed furniture in Government buildings in several districts in Telangana. The A. P. State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) pulled its buses off the roads since morning in the wake of the damage to dozens of vehicles in Sunday's violence.

Normal life in Hyderabad and all other nine districts of Telangana was badly affected by the bandh. All Government offices, educational institutions and shops remained shut in the region while the non-availability of public transport forced people to remain in their houses.

Students of Osmania University resorted to stone-pelting at a shopping complex outside the campus, damaged a petrol station and many private cars besides attacking the house of senior official of the A. P. State Council of Higher Education. Tension prevailed in the campus of Kakatiya University in Warangal where there was a stand off between police and students.

Police stayed away from the Osmania University campus in compliance with the direction of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) Chairman, B. Subhashan Reddy, to desist from resorting to violence against the students following the brutal lathi-charge on students. City Commissioner of Police, B. Prasada Rao, and several students who sustained injuries have been summoned by the SHRC to appear before it on Monday afternoon.

KCR on fast

Meanwhile, the authorities were considering a move to shift Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao from Khammam sub-jail, where he is fasting, to Hyderabad or to Warangal. Doctors said that the vital parameters of KCR, a hypertensive, were normal till the morning.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah convened a meeting of the State Cabinet where the latest political developments and the law and order situation were discussed in detail.

It was another frustrating day for IIM aspirants as technical glitches continued to disrupt the computer-based Common Admission Test (CAT) for the third consecutive day today.

Candidates could not take the test at a few centres in Mumbai, Bangalore and Ghaziabad due to technical problems due to malfunctioning of computers at these places. At a lab in IMS Ghaziabad, frustrated students launched a protest.

The launch of the computerised CAT involved delivery of exams at more than 360 testing labs in 104 centres. About 2.41 lakh students are scheduled to appear in the test for admission into seven IIMs and a few other B-Schools.

Directors of the Indian Institutes of Management are livid with the exam delivery of Prometric, which was awarded the $40m contract of computerising the process. They held a meeting with the representatives of Prometic last evening.

The test eluded nearly 4,000 students in the first two days of the ten-day long staggered exam that began on Saturday. Prometric blamed the glitches on a virus attack, which they said would be checked.

On Saturday, the test was rescheduled at 24 centres for carrying out repairs. On Sunday, several labs were closed, including 11 in Bangalore, eight in Bhopal, six each in Lucknow and Mumbai, five in Delhi, four in Ghaziabad, two each in Varanasi and Hyderabad and one each in Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Kolkata and Coimbatore.

Candidates who could not appear in the test have been notified through SMS and e-mail and their exams are being rescheduled within the testing period, said Prometric.

'Vindoo is the villain of Bigg Boss'

After much plotting and planning against his housemates, Rohit Verma was evicted out of the Bigg Boss [ Images ] house. Even his apologies and tears did not change the audience's mind, as they voted the fashion designer out.

Rohit talks to Rajul Hegde about his time in Bigg Boss.

What was your Bigg Boss experience like?

It is a mix of good and bad memories. I entered the house like an innocent child and played games. Later, I got trapped in the manipulation and became a scapegoat. The people I depended upon used me emotionally. I was mentally harrowed at one point of time and even turned suicidal. After seeing the audio-visual, I was broken. That's why the psychiatrist changed the game and showed some of my good moments.

Why didn't you realise your mistakes before Bigg Boss exposed you?

You are living with 13 strangers. All of them hope to make it to the grand finale. To win becomes so important that you forget your individuality. The prize money is so huge that the greed comes automatically. A good amount of money is being paid for you to be on the show too. The longer you stay on the show, the higher your bank balance gets.

Do you think you were nominated only because Bigg Boss exposed you?

Yes. The housemates were planning the nominations but I was the only one who admitted my mistake. I think I deserved it because I was playing wrong.

I am proud of myself and everyone should feel the same about me because I was the only one who accepted my mistake. Vindoo Singh and Raju Srivastav [ Images ] were part of the backbiting but they were not guilty at all.

But the housemates felt that you were faking it after Bigg Boss unmasked you. You were trying to gain sympathy and save yourself from eviction.

If you had seen the lie detector test, you wouldn't have asked me this question. A lie detector test has shown that my emotions were true. For me, Bigg Boss 3 got over the night I saw the footage of us backbiting. I criticised myself. You need guts to do that. Everyone has come to win the prize money. Even a friend will backstab you because winning becomes so important.

You were discussing your financial difficulties on Bigg Boss. Is that one of the reasons why you took part in Bigg Boss?

Everyone goes through a credit crunch. The fashion industry has dipped because there were no international buyers in the fashion week this year. But that doesn't mean I don't have a bank balance. Yes, it's difficult to survive because of the kind of lifestyle we lead.

When you were inside the house, questions were raised whether you are a fashion designer or a choreographer.

I laugh at such statements. Many of them have come to my fashion shows! But I don't need to prove anything. If you google Rohit K Verma, you will know about New York fashion shows. You will see international models on my Facebook.

Taanaz Irani was upset with you after she was evicted.

I learnt about that after I came out of the house. If I were in her place, I would have reacted the same way too. Initially, Bhakhtyar, Taanaz, Shamita Shetty [ Images ], Aditi Govitrikar [ Images ] and I were best friends. We would gang up and make fun of others.
Then one of the housemates told me that Bhakhtyar and Tanaaz [ Images ] were bitching about me and planning my nomination. I was shocked. After that, I saw Tanaaz discussing my nomination in front of me in a coded manner. So I decided to nominate them. I wanted to send Tanaaz out. Poonamji (Dhillon) also told me that they had used me.

Who is the villain in the house?

Everybody knows that. It's Vindoo.

How did you take Kamaal Khan's re-entry into the house?

I don't want to talk about people who are not important in my life.

Why do you think Pravesh Rana did not gel with you?

Pravesh is a struggling model and he will go to any extent for work. He is the biggest manipulator in the house. He poisoned people's minds and tarnished my image.

What next?

I'm waiting for the wild card entry. I don't want to go back in tears but as a changed person.

indianachu : 08

As the CEO of Zenith Optimedia Worldwide, Steve King feels that new and emerging advertising markets likeIndia and China will provide the global industry

’s recovery, on the back of positive signals from developed markets like US, Europe. “India, with an approximate 10% growth, will certainly be in the top ten advertising markets in absolute dollar terms by 2015,” he told ET.

Zenith Optimedia, the world’s third largest media-buying agency and an enterprise under the Paris-based Publicis Group is upbeat about India. Fresh from bagging new business worth $100 million in the country this year, it is commemorating five years in India by announcing a slew of promotions among its top brass. While the company’s India CEO Ambika Srivastava has been promoted as the chairperson of Zenith Optimedia, Satyajit Sen, MD- North, has been promoted as the agency’s India CEO.

India figures amongst Zenith Optimedia’s 20 largest markets globally, but over the past five years, it has been among the top three fastest growing ones. “Most of our markets are between 15 to 20 years old, so despite being here for only five years, this market has responded very well. Our focus here will be on winning local clients, apart from the international ones. By the next five years, we will have considerably closed the gap on the top two market leaders here,” King said.

In October this year, the agency had forecast the Indian advertising industry to grow at 10% next year. It is also close on the heels of launching a clutch of new tools to aid consumer research.

“Despite flat revenues, our group’s media buys have increased thanks to fragmentation in media. So we need to drive greater standardisation and automation in India. With this in mind, we have made a series of acquisitions of technological services like Click To Sales and Performex, which is the search agency of Google. No other group is investing so much in technology and systems, as we are,” King added.

Commenting on the global advertising outlook, King was of the view that advertising had seen off its worst ebbs. “World advertising spends will be down 10% this year. While the downturn is not over, the rate of decline has stopped deteriorating further, which is very significant,” he said.

”Next year, because of the indicators in US, Europe and Asia, we see a flattening out or even a growth of about two per cent for global advertising in the 2010 calendar year,” King added.

He painted a pretty picture, so far as forecasts for the Indian media market go. “While we expect the Indian advertising to grow at 10% next year, within this we expect newspaper advertising to grow by 7%, making this among the very few markets where newspapers continue to grow," he signed off.

There is reason for King to bet big on India as the agency enjoys a healthy growth rate in this market. This year, it has had a good run, bagging the media-buying duties for brands like Videocon, Uninor (joint telecom venture of Unitech and Telenor), e-Bay and Motorola, among others.

HYDERABAD: The Progressive Democratic Students Union has given a call for bandh of educational institutions in the Telangana region protesting the indiscriminate lathicharge on the Osmania University students today.Condemning the lathicharge, the PDSU State general secretary J L Gautam Prasad said that the Government should immediately put a halt to the barbaric attacks on people’s agitations.The Government should pave way for the formation of separate Telangana, he demanded.Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist-New Democracy) extended its support to tomorrow’s bandh call given by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) protesting the arrest of its leaders who proposed to go on an indefinite fast at Siddipet.The party State secretary R Subash Chandra Bose demanded the Government to announce the formation of separate Telangana immediately.

JV Airfone India Pvt Ltd, a new player in the Indian Mobile Market has introduced its new range of mobile handsets. Airfone is now offering a striking collection of multi-feature, incredible looking mobile handsets reasonably priced for almost every niche which will feature dual SIM facility in all handsets, MP3 player & TF Card support in all its models.

Please find below details of Airfone Mobile Models :

Airfone Flip 29i Mobile Phone

This classy looking touchscreen mobile comes in Dark Grey color along with a 1.3 mega pixel camera, and Dual SIM capability. The phone also features an MP3 player and a Video Recorder and Player making it an instant hit with all the youths. You also get a 2GB Micro SD Card worth 500 bucks as a standard accessory with the phone. The Phone is priced at Rs. 4999/-.

Airfone AF26 Mobile Phone

This Strikingly looking Mobile Phone comes in Black color with an extra long battery life of upto 15 days standby & expandable memory of upto 8 GB card. The phone features a Music player, Voice recorder, Bluetooth, Speaker phone, VGA Digital camera, 3 Torch & Support for GPRS at a reasonable cost of Rs 2999/-.

Airfone AF31 Mobile Phone

One of the most striking feature of this modern Black color Mobile handset is its Universal Dual SIM card which can be used in 2 different ways i.e. It can be used as an GSM+ GSM or GSM + CDMA phone. Other than that, the phone also features a VGA Camera, Audio/Video recorder, Bluetooth, GPRS support, Torch, Stereo FM Radio and Support for Micro SD Card of upto 16 GB. The Phone is available for a price of Rs 4999/-.

Dubai's stock exchange suffered sharp falls on the first day of trading since last week's revelations over its debt crisis.

The city's main stock exchange tumbled more than 7% and Abu Dhabi markets slid 8% in reaction to a request by state-backed investment firm Dubai World to delay payments on its 60 billion dollar (£36.8 billion) debts.

News of the city's woes sent ripples of fear across world markets on Thursday as investors worried about a new credit crisis.

In an effort to ease concerns, the United Arab Emirates' central bank has vowed to give emergency support for any foreign or local bank facing losses from a potential default in Dubai.

Trading in the region, which resumed on Monday following the Islamic holiday of Eid, saw shares of DP World - the port operating division of Dubai World - slump nearly 15% after markets opened.

In London the FTSE 100 Index was down around 0.4%, as the crisis continued to weigh on banking stocks.

But this followed rises on Asian markets overnight, suggesting some markets are feeling more optimistic after last week's hefty falls.

London shares tumbled 3% on Thursday, wiping almost £44 billion off the Footsie in its worst session since March, although shares clawed back some of the losses on Friday.

In early trading Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group were the market's chief fallers, both down almost 3%.

Other fallers included London Stock Exchange itself, which is 22% owned by Borse Dubai. Its shares fell more than 1%.

Scared to lose connectivity by the end of the day, users of handsets without IMEI numbers are rushing to get IMEI numbers before the deadline. The morning saw huge rush at the Telecare centers to get IMEI numbers. Today is the deadline when the phone numbers without IMEI numbers would be discontinued as per DoT directive.

“The rush is there for the last three-to-four days but today there are at least 150-200 people at ever center,” says Rajesh Sharma, a representative of Telecare. Around 1800 centers across the country are offering this service. Telecare has the capacity of handing out 70,000 to 80,000 IMEI numbers in one day. The company has been appointed to give out IMEI numbers.

Explaining the process of getting IMEI number, Sharma says, “A customer doesn't have to get any Id proof or anything. We take the photograph and ID proof there are then. He has to give Rs 199 and IMEI number is put directly on the phone.” However, he refused to give the number of IMEI numbers changed by them.

The 15-digit International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number helps security agencies trace calls made from and received on handsets. As per industry estimates, over 25 mn handsets are in circulation without IMEI numbers.In the wake of increased threat perception from terrorists, the Department of Telecom had asked operators not to allow calls to be completed on handsets without the IMEI number after November 30.

To highlight the importance of solar energy in a day-to-day life, a Non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Bangalore organized a walkathon on Saturday.

The main purpose of the walkathon was to popularize solar energy and create awareness among the people about renewable energy segments.

Display of unique and attractive solar caps marked the walkathon to draw the attention towards the benefits of using solar, wind, tidal and other non-conventional energies.

"The problem what we are facing nowadays is the electricity problem. So, we are creating awareness about solar energy because Government is also planning to do a lot of awareness saying that one in every three houses has to be solar, so that it can be alternative energy. Coming to this alternative energy it is beneficial for people. That is all I can say," said Ramesh S, organiser of the Walkathon.

Amlu Udayana, a participant in the Walkathon, said that energy crisis is a big impediment in the growth of the economy, and solar energy could be seen as the best answer for all the needs.

"Our forests are going down and we have no rains and then there is this melting which is going on. So, when we have got the opportunity to have this bright sun, we can tap energy out of it and wind, why not?" Amlu Udayana said.

Dubai's debt crisis will not affect India much but the government is keeping a close watch and will act to prevent any fallout, the finance minister said on Saturday.

"The impact cannot be much as our stake is so small and the amount involved compared to the world economy is miniscule," Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Chandigarh, where he was delivering a lecture.

"Watchful and effective intervention at the appropriate time can avert some immediate crisis," he said.

Indian stocks and the rupee were rattled on Friday after Dubai's woes stoked fears over corporate exposure to a key trading partner and that foreign funds would lose their appetite for risk.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), of which Dubai is part, is the second-biggest export destination for India and accounts for 10-12 percent of India's inward remittances.

Mukherjee said the emirate's problems could force a return of Indian citizens, who make up more than 40 percent of the UAE's population.

STIMULUS UNSUSTAINABLE

Mukherjee said the stimulus measures that buoyed the economy in the wake of the financial crisis were unsustainable and the government would have a roadmap by December to consolidate its fiscal position over the next five years.

The firefighting policies by Asia's third-largest economy have contributed to a bulging of the fiscal deficit to a projected 6.8 percent of GDP for 2009/10.

"This level of fiscal expansion can only be a short-term response and is unsustainable on a long-term basis," Mukherjee said in his speech.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India would likely wind down its stimulus measures next year.

The Reserve Bank of India has already started what it calls the first phase of the exit from its easy monetary policy, worried about inflationary pressures.

India's economy was set to grow at 6-7 percent in the financial year to March and the government was efforting a return to the 9 percent growth rate seen before the crisis clipped the pace of expansion, Mukherjee said.

The worst of the financial crisis seemed to be over and there would not be a lasting impact on India's development outlook over the medium to long term, he said.

"The caveat is a sustained recovery of the developed countries from the current crisis," he said.

Mukherjee also said the RBI had intervened in the forex markets to stabilise the rupee after the crisis.

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni had come to Kanpur one-and-a-half years ago, leading India for the first time because of an injury to Anil Kumble, he had ended up giving the curator a reward after beating South Africa in three days on a spinning track. Ten Test matches and six wins later, the Indian skipper's golden run continued in the city where it had started, but this time � as Dhoni was quick point out � the pitch hadn't been tailor-made for him. "We thought this wicket would assist the spinners more, and there would be variable bounce for the fast bowlers. But I don't think it was anywhere close to what we had played on when we were here for the last Test match," he said. The two big factors behind India's innings-and-144-run win over Sri Lanka in the second Test were the toss, which gave India the opportunity to bat when it was easiest to play strokes, and the bowling of fast bowler Sreesanth, who managed to extract more from the track than anyone felt it had to offer. "It was a good toss to win. There was a bit of pace early on, so the batsmen could score runs. After that, as the days progressed, it got slower and slower. There was a bit of scuffed-up area for the spinners but there wasn't much help because they weren't getting the bounce. The batsmen did a really good job, putting up a big score," Dhoni said. "After that, Sreesanth was at his best. He used the reverse swing effectively and he was bowling in the right areas. It was good to see him in action. He had been bowling really well in the net sessions, and this was one wicket where we all knew reverse swing would come into play. I feel Sree and Zaheer are the two best reverse-swing bowlers that we've got. In fact, of all the bowlers, only Sreesanth can take the reverse-swinging ball away from the right-handers." But Dhoni hoped that Sreesanth, who was returning to the Indian team after 19 months due to injury and allegations of bad attitude, would stay composed going forward in what is effectively his second coming. "Hopefully he will maintain his attitude from this match. Till he doesn't cross the line, it is good for everyone. Not only for him, for the captain, for the players, and for the match referees too," he said. "Sree played in a very different way in this Test match. He was aggressive, but at the same time, he controlled his emotions. That is important because you don't want to go into a match riding on emotion. The way he looked in this Test, he will be fine." India will go into the next Test without Gautam Gambhir, who will be attending his sister's wedding on December 3, and Dhoni said he won't be able to decide if the opener was missed until after the game. "If we lose early wickets, he will be missed. But there are things you have to adjust with and move on. This is one of those situations where we can't do much. Hopefully, whoever opens with Virender Sehwag will get us off to a good start." The victory was India's 100th in Test cricket in 432 matches, making them the sixth team to reach the milestone. "It is a privilege to be a part of this side, but it has happened because of the 250 players that came in and played before me, and a few others after me," Dhoni said. "Fortunately I am the captain of the side right now, but it's the contribution of hundreds of players that we have reached so far."indianachu : 03

Mumbai:The Thackeray household is on the verge of another political split with daughter-in-law Smita Thackeray toying with the idea of joining theCongress. Smita, wife of Jaydev Thackeray, who had been finding it tough to play a dominant role in Shiv Sena affairs, has indicated that she was feeling choked in the Thackeray household, unable to gain a political hold that had been thwarted by the senior Thackeray time and again.Sources close to her indicated that she is likely to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi soon and felt at home with the Congress ideology.Highly politically ambitious, Smita had been a power centre during the Sena-BJP reign from 1995 to 1999. She later wanted to enter the Rajya Sabha, but her aspiration came to a nought as despite a promise to her, Thackeray senior backed journalist Bharat Kumar Raut over her, the sources said.Ms Thackeray, who continued to stay in Matoshree even after being estranged from her husband, was highly disturbed by this and had to be admitted to Lilavati Hospital due to chest pain, and later shifted to Juhu. She also felt snubbed by Bal Thackeray when her second contribution to party organ Saamna was rejected by theShiv Sena supremo after her maiden article received favourable response. Once acknowledged as Mr Thackeray's favourite daughter-in-law, Smita later dabbled with Hindi movies as a producer besides some Marathi soaps and talkshows, but never hid her ambition to be in active politics. Political observers feel the main reason for the outburst was she was feeling completely sidelined in the power corridor with son Uddhav in complete command. Sources inCongress said the party would be happy to welcome Smita as this would be another major blow to the Shiv Sena, which is already facing a tough time, after nephew Raj Thackeray left the party to float Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in 2005.indianachu : 02

Rly to run special trains to Unjha

AHMEDABAD : Western Railway, Ahmedabad division has announced eight special trains daily from Saturday to December 2 on account of Silver Jubileecelebrations at Umiya mata temple at Unjha. These include DMU trains at 8.45 am and reach Unjha at 10.50 am. In return the train will start Unjha at 1.50 pm and reach Ahmedabad at 4.10 pm. Another train will leave Ahmedabad at 6.35 pm and reach Unjha at 8.10 pm. Its pairing train will start at 6.20 am from Unjha and reach Ahmedabad at 8.55 am. Apart from these, a special train will leave Unjha at 10.55 am and will reach Palanpur at 12 noon. Its pairing train will leave Palanpur at 12.45 pm and reach Unjha at 1.45 pm. The pairing train from Unjha will leave at 8.15 pm and reach Palanpur at 9.10 pm. In return it willleave Palanpur at 5.20 am and reach Unjha at 6.15 am.

KSRTC launches online reservation facility

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has launched online ticket reservation facility with Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan switching on the facility at a function held here on Wednesday.Passengers can book their tickets online through the KSRTC website www.keralartc.com.Speaking on the occasion, Transport Minister Jose Thettayil said that the online booking facility would be available for 188 buses.The facility will be extended to more buses in future.Tickets can be booked directly at the Online Reservation Counters at Thiruvananthapuram Central, Kottarakkara, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Kannur, Bangalore Majestic and Bangalore Satellite stations.Both credit and debit cards can be used for booking tickets at these centres.Rs.20 will be charged as service charge for online booking. Tickets booked online can be cancelled online.The amount to be refunded will be credited to the bank account. Online tickets cannot be cancelled at other counters. The passengers have to carry the ticket and identity proof during the journey.For online booking, the passengers have to register their name on the KSRTC website. When name, address and age details are entered, a user name and password will be provided to the passengers to log on to the website. A 24-hour help desk will be functional in the KSRTC Central office. A data centre also has been set up at the Central office.Jose Thettayil said that as of now the Government had not thought about hiking the bus fare. As it is a policy matter it is the Government to decide on this.He said that the bus operators’ demand for fare hike could not be accepted.The Government is open for discussions with the operators.He said that 5,000 drivers would be imparted training before March 2010. Tipper lorry drivers will be given training from November 29. Regarding the starting of courier service, the Minister said that the initial response was poor. However, it would invite applications once again for this. He also said that providing season tickets for passengers were also under the consideration of the Government.Thettayil said that providing GPS in the buses was under the active consideration of the RTC. The lowfloor buses will start operations in Kochi by next week.V.Surendran Pillai MLA, KSRTC managing director T.P.Senkumar and trade union leaders attended the inaugural function.

Rajiv Gandhi Technical University (RGPV) also known as State Technological University of Madhya Pradesh, is an Indian multi-campus affiliating university in Madhya Pradesh.

The university was named after the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. All the colleges of Engineering, Science and Technology as well as the Polytechnics affiliated to various Universities and Boards of Technical Education are affiliated to the newly set up University of Technology.

Rajiv Gandhi Technical University (RGPV) Bhopal, has declared the Time Table for the Examinations to be held in the month of December/January 2009-2010.

Pakistan has finally admitted the Lashkar-e-Toiba was behind the Mumbai terror attacks.

Even though there is no official confirmation but Pakistani Prime Ministers Office has told CNN-IBN that Lashkar-e-Toiba planned and executed 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

However, New Delhi is cautious about the admission with sources in the Ministry of External Affairs saying that India is looking for more tangible action.

The sources in Pakistani PMO said that two Lashkar operatives Zaik-ur Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah have confessed to planning and executing Mumbai attacks.
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Rajasthan Patrika is a Hindi language daily newspaper published from Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Kota and other cities of Rajasthan and from major Indian cities such as Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur , Ahmedabad, Gwalior, Kolkata, Chennai, New Delhi and Bangalore.

TV9 is a Telugu news channel started in January 2004. It gained instant popularity among the masses with the punchline “Merugaina Samajam Kosam”. Later it expanded its network with news channels in Kannada, Malayalam and Gujarati languages. These channels are broadcast by Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. ABC Private Ltd. had also launched a Telugu spiritual channel, Samskruthi.

Eenadu headquartered in Hyderabad, India, is the largest circulated Telugu news daily in the state of Andhra Pradesh.Eenadu (meaning “Today” in Telugu) was ounded by the Indian media baron Ramoji Rao in 1974.

Hi Friends here is latest information related with GHMC Election Results. GHMC Election Results will be announced. GHMC Election Results can easily be downloaded from following links. It is very easy to see GHMC Election Results. Yes GHMC Election Results announced soon. You can see your GHMC Election Results here. Just feed your roll no. here and get your GHMC Election Results. Best Of Luck Friends !!!

Chennai:TVS Motor Company today announced the launch of its much awaited "TVS Jive", India's first clutchless bike, and "TVS Wego", an automatic scooter. Unveiling the new Motorcycle and Scooter, company's Chairman Venu Srinivasan said the two novel products, powered by 110 cc engine, would make a difference in riding as the whole focus has been to give the customers a stress-free and joyous riding.

''Ride convenience is the focal point and both products will provide a sporty riding experience with an unparalleled combination of comfort, performance, ease of operation and fuel efficiency,'' he said.

The Company had spent about Rs 25 crore on developing Jive and about Rs 50 crores on Wego, he said, adding unveiling of the two models would help the company to step up the sales of two wheelers by 35,000 to 40,000 units a month.

He said while Jive would be launched in December and sold across the country, Wego would be launched in January after the Auto Expo and the mass production of the scooter would begin during the second week of January. Both the Motorcycle and Scooter would be manufactured in the Company's Hosur facility, Mr Srinivisan said, adding the ex-show room price of Jive would be Rs 41,000 across the country and Wego Rs 42,500.

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. It is a holiday celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

On 26th November 2009 This Day is celebrated U.S. this Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November and

U.S. tradition compares the holiday with a meal held in 1621 by the Wampanoag and the Puritans who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In New York City, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held annually every Thanksgiving Day.

Along with United States, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands also celebrated on the same day.

Sukhoi 30mki fighter jet aircraft today flown by Wing Commander S Sajan took off from Indian Airfoce Base at Pune with President Pritabha Patil as a co flier. With this President President Pratibha Patil who was in air for about 30 minutes became the first woman head of state to fly in a warplane. The place was flown at the 0.9 Mach (sub-sonic speed) or about 1,000 km per hour. The supersonic speed start at Mach one, which is about 1,236 km per hour.

If you recall it was former President A P J Abdul Kalam who has started this trend when he flew in a Sukhoi-30 in 2006. President of India is the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces.

President Pratibha Patil (74) set a world record by becoming the oldest woman to be airborne in a combat jet for a 30 minutes at a speed close to the supersonic level.

NW power grid project gets $89 M from DOE

A project to examine how high technology can improve the Pacific Northwest's electric power grid has received an $88.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The money, to help pay for the $177.6 million Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project, was the largest among 32 grants DOE announced Tuesday as part of $620 million in stimulus aid.

The grant will go to Battelle Memorial Institute in Richland, Wash., which will manage the project. The remainder of the project's cost will be borne by energy providers, utilities, technology companies and research organizations taking part.

A "smart grid" uses computers and communication technology to optimize how electricity is generated, transmitted, distributed and used. The Northwest study will involve more than 60,000 electricity customers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

Battelle estimates that at its peak, the project could generate about 1,500 jobs in manufacturing, installing and operating the smart grid network.

Among those taking part in the project are the campuses of the University of Washington in Seattle and Washington State University in Pullman. At both schools, "smart meters" will be installed to provide real-time information on power consumption, along with software and other gear to automate and monitor the electricity distribution system.

The utilities and test sites for the project include Idaho Falls Power in Idaho; Flathead Electric Cooperative Inc. and NorthWestern Energy in Montana; the Bonneville Power Administration, Portland General Electric in Salem, and the city of Milton-Freewater in Oregon; and Lower Valley Energy in Wyoming.

In Washington, Seattle City Light will work with the University of Washington and Avista Utilities with WSU. Other utilities and sites involved are Inland Power & Light Co. in Airway Heights, the city of Ellensburg, Peninsula Light Co. on Fox Island, and the Benton Public Utilities District in Kennewick.

If the sparkle in this wedding was anything to go by, then there’s no doubt that the stars actually came down to earth on Tuesday night. Brightened, unlike the usual nights, the place that was most illuminated was Mumbai’s hotel Grand Hyatt...the place where everyone wanted to be that night. Every road led here and every big name from the world of movies, corporate and politics came in looking their glamourest best to the fairy tale wedding of Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra.

The gorgeous Shilpa, in a Tarun Tahiliani contemporarily styled ghagra choli, sexily draped, stood smiling at the centre of the elegantly done up stage alongside husband Raj, her in laws and her family, and cheerfully introduced the guests who went up to wish the couple.

Mumbai remembers 26/11: host of events planned a year on

A candle-light vigil, a police parade, an all-religion prayer meet at the Gateway of India and a memorial service at Chabad House - people from all walks of life will remember the victims and heroes of the 26/11 terror attacks a year ago in this city in more ways than one.

While the Citizens Initiative for Peace, encompassing several NGOs, holds a candle-light vigil on the eve of the anniversary of the daring attacks, a peace march would be held by Force 24X7, set up by the Indian Ex-Servicemen's League (Mahrashtra unit).

The candle-light vigil would be held outside the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel in memory of those who lost their lives in the mayhem, said Jatin Desai, spokesman of the Citizens Initiative for Peace.

The march by Force 24X7 will start from Bandra station and terminate at the Taj Land's End in Bandra Reclamation, followed by a homage meeting at the Carter Road Amphitheatre, said Brigadier (Retd) Sudhir Sawant, the Force's advisor.

Besides these solemn events, students from all over India and Bangladesh under the banner of International Youth Peace Camp will pay homage to the victims at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Plat. No. 7, where terrorists opened fire, killing many people.

On Nov 26 last year, 10 Pakistani terrorists sneaked into this megapolis by the Arabian Sea, landing by rubber dinghy, and unleashed mayhem for three days in this city. Their killing spree and the bloody saga ended only when security forces killed all but one of them - Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was captured during the attack. The 60 hours of terror left 166 people dead.

On Thursday morning, the Mumbai Police have organised a special parade from the Gateway of India to Chowpatty as a confidence building measure among the people.

During the parade, the police will display the latest arms, ammunition, sophisticated weapons and technology acquired by them during the past year to boost the combat capability of the force.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram will attend the memorial function.

The corporate world is not to be left behind. It will pay homage at a function Thursday morning at the Indian Merchants Chamber that will be attended by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

Several NGOs, citizens and social groups have organised a campaign urging people to pen their anti-terrorism or related messages at a 1.5-km-long wall at Marine Drive in south Mumbai.

The Jewish community of Mumbai has also organised a special commemorative ceremony at Chabad House, the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Hasidic Jews, where Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, his pregnant wife Rivka and four others were killed as the terrorists stormed in and held them hostage for hours on end.

Rabbi Nachman and Freida Holtzberg of New York, and Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg of Afula (Israel), the parents of the slain Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka, will join the memorial event, a spokesman for the Israeli consulate here said.

They will be joined by Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, director of Chabad Mumbai Relief Fund, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky and Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, both from Lubavitch World Headquarters, Rabbi Yosef Kantor, regional director of Chabad India, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor and Mumbai Mayor Shubha Raul.

A memorial service will be performed by Chasidic vocalist Benny Friedman, as well as a vocal tribute to the victims of last year's terror attack would be paid from 6 p.m. onwards.

On the occasion, more than 170 candles will be lit in memory of all the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The state government has organised an all-religious prayer meeting at the Gateway of India in memorium to the victims of 26/11 attacks.

All these are the public functions. But there are many private memorials that would be held at the homes of the victims, at the offices of the survivors and the police department, which lost some of its finest officers.

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition LK Advani, who has reportedly been indicted by the Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan Commission of Inquiry report in the Babri Masjid demolition case, on Monday slammed the Union Government over the report.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, who had given a notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar demanding a debate on the Liberhan Commission, said he was surprised that the report has been “selectively leaked” to the media.

“I was shocked to see this report. This report is talking about my seniors Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This report was given to the government in June, it is November now. The Home Minister didn’t table this report in the last session. Government should table the report in the House,” said Advani while waving a copy of the Indian Express newspaper in the Lok Sabha.

Advani went on to add that he was proud of his association with the Ayodhya movement.